Incident in Commons Chamber

Baroness Amos: The House will wish to know that, after consultation through the usual channels, I have today sent the following letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons:
	"On behalf of the whole House of Lords, I write to let you know that we utterly condemn the invasion yesterday of the Chamber of the House of Commons.
	Please be assured of this House's full co-operation in considering the implications of this incident for the security of Parliament. I look forward to continuing to work with you and others on this.
	The House of Lords is fully committed, with you and the House of Commons, to maintaining the parliamentary process in the face of disorder and disruption".

Hurricane Ivan

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Hilary Benn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	On 14 September 2004 I provided the House with an oral Statement on the impact that Hurricane Ivan was having on a number of islands in the Caribbean. I would like to update the House today, in advance of the recess, on the latest situation and the international relief effort being undertaken. I will provide a further Written Statement following the return of the House.
	Hurricane Ivan has now passed through the Caribbean and is in the Gulf of Mexico. It was downgraded to a category 4 hurricane and made landfall along the United States coast on 15 September. It took one week, from 7 to 14 September, for the hurricane to travel from Grenada, to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and finally western Cuba, causing over 60 deaths and severe damage along its way.
	The situation in Grenada continues to be serious. The latest reports from the island indicate that 37 people died and over 300 were injured as a result of the hurricane. Two-thirds of the population (60,000 people) are reportedly affected and it is estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 people are living in shelters. The range of figures reflects that many of these shelters are private houses of which there are up to 200. Electricity supply continues to be a problem and piped water is available to only about a third of households across the island. In the mean time water tankers are operating, but fuel is in short supply. This is hampering both transport and emergency electricity generation. The main hospital is working and sustained only minor damage. Drugs are in short supply as the main stock was destroyed. Other hospitals on the island suffered more extensive damage. There is a dawn to dusk curfew following the looting that occurred immediately after the hurricane had hit the island.
	The relief operation is scaling up quickly but continues to face problems with co-ordination and communications. The emergency operation centre building was destroyed in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane but was brought back into operation by the efforts of HMS "Richmond". It is now fully operational with assistance from the regional Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency and a recently arrived United Nations disaster assessment and co-ordination team. Roads and airports are now open. Distribution of food and other relief items is proceeding slowly, in part due to fuel shortage and in part due to the scale of properly assessing where need is greatest. The United Nations team will help in prioritising the delivery of supplies. Communicating with the population is also a constraint. There are only FM broadcasts operational, and these do not reach the whole island. The two dependencies of Carriacou and Petit Martinique have yet to be assessed.
	As I reported to the House on 14 September, the Department for International Development delivered plastic sheeting for 1,400 families and water containers for 11,000 people on 11 September and made an immediate contribution of some £83,000 to the Pan American Health Organisation. We have since made a contribution of £132,000 to the preliminary appeal for Grenada of the International Federation of the Red Cross. The Pan American Health Organisation and the International Federation of the Red Cross are both active in Grenada. The Pan American Health Organisation has deployed medical personnel and vaccines. The International Federation of the Red Cross has sent a number of relief flights with basic relief items, including shelter materials. The Department for International Development is continuing to monitor the situation closely, in particular the level of medical supplies on the island, and will consider providing further relief assistance as needs become clearer. We are in daily contact with the Pan American Health Organisation concerning health needs.
	The United States Agency for International Development has provided plastic sheeting for 25,000 people and other relief items in Grenada. The Canadian International Development Agency has approved support of £211,100 and the European Community's Humanitarian Office has approved an allocation of £1.03 million for Grenada. The bulk of this allocation will go towards the Red Cross operation and Oxfam who are assisting with emergency water and sanitation work. The United Kingdom's share of this European Community support is about £200,000.
	The two-person humanitarian assessment team sent to the region by the Department for International Development arrived in Kingston, Jamaica on 13 September. On 14 September, they met with representatives from the Government of Jamaica, national and international organizations, and other donors. They report good co-ordination between the Government's Office for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, the Jamaican Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the United Nations disaster assistance and co-ordination team. Joint rapid assessments are under way with several areas of the island already identified as the most severely affected. These areas include Westmoreland, Claredon, Morant Bay, May Penn and the north-east Blue Mountains. It is not thought that there is widespread devastation but there are a number of pockets of devastation.
	Until the assessments are completed, exact figures are difficult to come by but there are reported to be 200 to 245 shelters open, serving between 4,000 to 13,000 residents across the island. Water is the key issue in many of the hardest hit communities. Food stocks in the Blue Mountain region were reported as running low. Heavy flooding in the surrounding area is delaying assessments. As an interim measure, the Government of Jamaica through their defence forces have airlifted an initial stock of food to the region. The Red Cross has also delivered relief supplies. Although most of the hospitals are operational, they report a lack of power and water supplies with much of the ground water contaminated. The Pan American Health Organisation is working with the Ministry of Health to identify specific needs in the health sector and resolve these problems. A number of non-governmental organisations have undertaken preliminary assessments to address short-term relief needs. The Department for International Development has received requests for funding support from Save the Children, Oxfam and ADRA. These proposals are being urgently considered.
	The Department for International Development assessment team arrived on the Cayman Islands, from Jamaica, on 15 September. They are assisting the Government in undertaking urgent humanitarian needs assessments, which will determine what further urgent supplies are required. Initial estimates indicate 15–20 per cent of residential houses completely destroyed and 20 per cent with major damage. The Department for International Development had already responded to an earlier request for assistance by procuring 3 million water purification tablets, 50 chainsaws, 500 camp cots for children and 5,000 pieces of plastic sheeting. These supplies are on their way to the island, with our first relief flight arriving today. The International Federation of the Red Cross is also planning a relief flight.
	The Governor is concerned about maintaining security on the islands and is looking to obtain additional security support. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is considering the request. The Governor is not aware of medical supply problems but the assessment being undertaken will confirm these and other needs. The main concern appears to be water supply and the need to deliver water purification tablets, which the Department for International Development is supplying. A water trucking system is being set up. HMS "Richmond" sent a 17-person party on shore on 14 September. They have repaired generators, attended to damaged buildings and have been providing food distributions. Of a population of 42,000, approximately 3,000 people remain in shelters. Food supplies are being delivered to all shelters. The airport on the island is now fully operational and busy with both passenger and cargo aircraft. This has enabled 30 dialysis patients needing emergency dialysis and ongoing care to be airlifted to the United States by Cayman Airways. Shops have reopened. The Caribbean Utilities Company will support restoration of power supplies.
	Ivan swung past the western edge of Cuba late on 13 September as a category 5 hurricane. One and a half million people had been evacuated from the area by the Cuban authorities, with 300,000 people placed in shelters. The western area of Cuba is sparsely populated and there have been no immediate reports of deaths, injuries or serious damage to buildings. It is mainly a tobacco-growing area but planting does not begin till next month so limited damage is expected on tobacco crops. Its impact on agricultural installations and housing in coastal areas is to be reported. Airports have reopened and children are expected to return to school this week.
	The Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Co-operation is forming an assessment team to inform the Government of needs. Cuba prepared itself well ahead of the hurricane and fortunately appears to have been spared the full force of the hurricane, and national emergency services have mobilised rapidly to distribute food and non-food items to displaced people.
	While Hurricane Ivan has passed out of the Caribbean, hurricane warnings remain in place for the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Residents and tourists have been evacuated from areas likely to be affected by strong winds and waves. No reports are yet available on the impact on the Yucatan Peninsula but damage is likely to be contained.
	Further information on the continuing relief effort to affected islands will be made available via the Department for International Development website www.dfid.gov.uk. This will include details of how concerned members of the public could help via relief agencies.

Iraq: Reconstruction

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Statement.
	I visited Baghdad and Basra from 31 August to 1 September to learn for myself about progress with reconstruction on the ground. I met Prime Minister Allawi, development Ministers, representatives from the United Nations, civil society and the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, and representatives from local government.
	The interim Iraqi Government are now clearly in charge, although recent events in Najaf have dominated their first months in power. The difficult security situation has inevitably slowed down the reconstruction effort of not just the UK, but also other donors and the multilateral agencies. However, it was clear that progress is still being made. 45 kilometres of water pipes have been laid in Basra since my last visit in February and electricity distribution is now more equitable across the national grid. Partially due to these efforts, the riots that happened in Basra last summer because of the lack of basic services have not reoccurred this year.
	While in Iraq I announced a number of new UK bilateral projects, focusing on building the capacity of the Iraqi administration, and promoting employment creation, in southern Iraq. These projects mark an important step forward in our reconstruction efforts in southern Iraq as we move from meeting short-term humanitarian and immediate infrastructure rehabilitation needs towards addressing longer-term development challenges. Southern Iraq should receive massive reconstruction funds over next two to three years from a range of sources, including the USA, Japan and the World Bank and UN trust funds. One of DFID's aims is to help the Iraqi administration to ensure that this money is spent quickly and well, and that the benefits of reconstruction are widely shared across the population. We are investing £20.5 million in strengthening local management, planning and financial capacity in the four southern governorates of Basra, Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Maysan, including £15 million for projects developed by the governorates. We have also started a new £16.5 million programme to finance employment programmes and further emergency infrastructure repairs.
	DfID has committed £331 million to humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq since March 2003. Of this total £78 million has been allocated to bilateral reconstruction projects in southern Iraq; £19 million to support for the new interim Iraqi Government, the justice sector, independent media, civil society and political participation; and £28 million for consultants and secondments to the Coalition Provisional Authority while it was in office up to 28 June. £70 million has been paid into the trust funds managed by the United Nations and the World Bank, to be spent primarily on health, education, water and sanitation projects, assistance for refugees and strengthening governance; and nearly £12 million has been committed to IMF and International Finance Corporation programmes for economic governance support and small business development. Updates on DfID's programmes can be found on the Internet at www.dfid.gov.uk, as well as in the House Library.
	As on my previous two visits to Iraq, I was impressed by the extraordinary courage and commitment of all the people, both international and Iraqi, who are working to help the new Iraqi Government and the people of Iraq to build the better future that they deserve.

Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Statement.
	Together with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for Defence, I wish to inform Parliament of the Government's intention to improve the United Kingdom's capacity to deal with immediate post-conflict stabilisation, including by integrating civilian and military policy, planning and operations. In recent years, the United Kingdom, with the international community, has been increasingly involved in helping countries to stabilise after conflict. We need to deal better with conflict and instability, learn lessons and improve our capability to respond. Within this broader context, there is particular scope to improve the way in which we deal with immediate post-conflict situations, especially those which include military and civilian components. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development are working closely to develop the capabilities that are needed. The Foreign Secretary will chair a new Cabinet Sub-Committee on Post-Conflict Reconstruction. My right honourable friends and I expect to be in a position formally to establish an inter-departmental Post-Conflict Reconstruction Unit later this year to lead this work. It will have a policy and operational role. In spring 2005 we anticipate being able to inform Parliament about its initial capabilities. Meanwhile, my right honourable friends and I have placed a note in the House of Commons Library which provides more detail about the Government's aims and plans.

Pakistan: Cancellation of Ex-CDC Debt

Baroness Amos: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr Gareth Thomas) has made the following Statement:
	On 15 September 2004, The Secretary of State for International Development wrote to Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, to notify him that DfID has now cancelled Pakistan's ex-CDC debt amounting to £19 million.
	The outstanding loans made by the former Commonwealth Development Corporation to public sector bodies in developing countries were removed from the newly formed CDC Capital Partners balance sheet on 31 August 2000 and transferred to DfID. In the case of Pakistan, the loan concerned was to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.
	The only other inter-governmental debt between the UK and Pakistan relates to export credit guarantees. Following the Paris Club agreement, this debt was rescheduled and is now valued at only £9 million.
	In 2001 DfID agreed to cancel the ex-CDC debt, subject to Pakistan completing the second review of the poverty reduction growth facility (PRGF) with the International Monetary Fund. In the interim, the debt was suspended with no interest payments required from Pakistan to DfID. On 23 June 2004 the IMF executive board successfully completed the second annual review of Pakistan's PRGF, implying the ex-CDC debt can now be cancelled.
	The Pakistan programme continues to be a high priority for DfID. As announced to the House in March 2003, during 2003 DfID provided Pakistan with £55 million to cancel debt held with the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Over the next two years (2004–05 and 2005–06), DfID's assistance to Pakistan will be £70 million and £74 million respectively. This will support the Government of Pakistan in achieving the millennium development goals through the implementation of their poverty reduction strategy (published in December 2003). Priorities for DfID are increasing the incomes of poor people, improving service delivery to poor people and increasing accountability of the state to poor people.

Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland: Annual Report 2003–04

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland, Mr Denis Stanley, is responsible for all aspects of electoral administration in Northern Ireland, including the conduct of all elections and referendums; and for electoral registration. In accordance with Section 14 of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962, the Chief Electoral Officer is required to submit an annual report to the Secretary of State.
	I am pleased to announce that the annual report of the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland for the year 2003–04 has been laid before Parliament. Copies are available in the Library.

Compensation Agency: Corporate Plan for 2004–07 and Business Plan for 2004–05

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Northern Ireland Office has made the following Statement.
	The Compensation Agency will publish today its corporate plan for 2004–07 and business plan for 2004–05. I have set the agency the following key performance targets for 2004 to 2005:
	Claims under the Criminal Damage (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977
	1. Maintain average time taken to reach decisions at 18 weeks for claims received from 1 April 2004.
	2. Reduce by 85 per cent the number of claims in hand at 31 March 2004 on which no decision has been reached; and
	3.* Process claims under the Criminal Damage and Terrorism Act schemes at a combined average unit cost of £310.
	Claims under the Terrorism Act 2000
	4. Reach decisions on claims in 70 days for claims received from 1 April 2004;
	5. Reduce by 90 per cent the number of claims in hand at 31 March 2004 on which no decision has been reached; and
	3.* Process claims under the Criminal Damage and Terrorism Act schemes at the combined average unit cost of £310.
	* This unit cost target relates to claims under the Criminal Damage and Terrorism Act schemes. The work involved in processing these claims is carried out in a single organisational unit within the agency so the efficiency of this element of the agency's operations is measured by reference to a combined unit cost target.
	Claims under Criminal Injuries (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988
	6. Reduce by 45 per cent the number of claims in hand at 31 March 2004.
	Claims under the Criminal Injuries Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (Tariff)
	7. Decide 50 per cent of all applications within 12 months of receiving the application.
	8. Reach decisions on applications at an average unit cost of £280.
	Compliance with Legislation/Standards of Adjudication—All Schemes
	9. The agency's standards of adjudication are appropriate; which will be confirmed by the department's Internal Audit Branch through random sampling of claims.
	Value for Money—All Schemes 
	10. Manage the workload in 2004–05 within a running costs budget (to cover salaries and administrative expenditure) to financial limits agreed with the Department (including in-year adjustments).

Treasury Solicitor: Annual Report and Accounts 2003–04

Lord Goldsmith: The Treasury Solicitor's annual report and accounts 2003–04 have today been published and laid before Parliament. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

North Korea

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My honourable friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Bill Rammell) visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) from 11 to 14 September. It was the first ever visit by a British Minister. He undertook the trip because the North Koreans had agreed, for the first time, to substantive discussions on the nuclear issue and human rights. He met Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly Chae Thae Bok, Human Rights Minister Choe Su Hon and Kim Gye Gwan, head of the DPRK's delegation to the six-party talks on dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme.
	Mr Rammell stressed to Foreign Minister Paek and chief negotiator Kim Gye Gwan the importance which the UK and the international community attach to the continuation of the six-party talks. For some time, it has been clear that the North Koreans might not proceed with the scheduled fourth round of talks by the end of September. The Foreign Minister restated the DPRK's commitment to the talks process, but admitted the DPRK's reluctance to meet again in September. Mr Rammell also impressed the need for the DPRK to admit its uranium enrichment programme, and encouraged the regime to look to the example of Libya.
	Before the visit, the FCO delegation consulted on the human rights situation with three leading NGOs—Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Christian Solidarity World-wide. Armed with detailed information on individual cases, Mr Rammell was able to hand to Human Rights Minister Choe Su Hon a list of 18 named individuals, and asked for a full written response. In particular, he raised the cases of two South Korean pastors reportedly abducted to the DPRK from China whose details we learnt about from Christian Solidarity World-wide. He handed over satellite photographs of what appear to be a number of large prison camps in the DPRK and asked for both an explanation and access to them by diplomats resident in Pyongyang. He also pressed for the North Koreans to allow visits, so far barred, by the recently appointed UN special rapporteur for human rights in the DPRK and by other thematic UN human rights special rapporteurs; and further visits by Foreign Office human rights experts. Mr Rammell hopes to hear more about this at the UN General Assembly next week when he will meet Choe Su Hon again to continue discussions. He repeatedly made the points that blanket denials by the North Koreans of alleged human rights violations were simply not credible.
	Mr Rammell's visit coincided with reports of a large explosion in the north of the country. Having asked for an explanation, Foreign Minister Peak said it was a planned explosion of a mountain for the construction of a hydro-electric power plant. He agreed to the request that diplomats might visit to see for themselves. The arrangements are now in hand. The British Ambassador visited the blast site today, we have asked for an urgent report on the visit.

Asylum Claimants and Detention Policy

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: A key element in the Government's strategy to speed up the processing of asylum claims has been the introduction of the fast-track asylum processes operated initially at the Oakington Reception Centre and now also at Harmondsworth Removal Centre and other locations. The use of detention to fast-track suitable claims under these processes is necessary to achieve the objective of delivering decisions quickly. This ensures, among other things, that those whose claims can be quickly decided can be removed as quickly as possible in the event that the claim is unsuccessful.
	The lawfulness of detaining asylum claimants for the sole purpose of deciding their claims quickly was upheld by the Court of Appeal and by the House of Lords in the case of Saadi.
	When we began the fast-track process we said that it was our intention to detain asylum claimants suitable for a quick decision for a period of about seven to 10 days. If we could not decide the claim within that timescale, the claimant would be released or moved to another place of detention with the facilities to support people detained for longer periods. In the vast majority of cases, we have been able to do exactly that. However, the need to ensure a really sharp focus on quality decision making, including for example in non-suspensive appeal (NSA) cases the need for a second pair of eyes, means we cannot always make decisions and serve them on claimants within the original seven to 10 day target timescale. While we are able to do this in over 95 per cent of non-NSA Oakington claims, our experience has shown us that NSA claims take slightly longer, with the majority of decisions being made and served within 14 days. The purpose of this announcement is to set out our revised fast-track process detention policy.
	The fast-track process has scheduled days set aside for specific activities (interviewing, serving the decision etc) but we intend this to be a guide to how the process will generally operate. There will always be occasions when for operational or other reasons it is not possible to undertake certain activities. This may be because the claimant is temporarily unwell, there is an interpreter problem, the claimant requires longer to obtain further evidence or wishes to submit late representations for example. The process must be flexible enough to accommodate such circumstances. We would not necessarily release people from detention or from the process or move them to another place of detention simply because the timetable cannot be adhered to, if the indications are that we can make and serve a decision within a reasonable timescale. However, the period of detention for making a quick decision will not be allowed to continue for longer than is reasonable in all the circumstances. We will aim to make decisions within 10 to 14 days, but there will be occasions where it is quicker, for example at Harmondsworth or a non-NSA decision at Oakington. However, we will continue to detain for the purpose of deciding the claim quickly, even beyond the 10 to 14-day timescale, unless the length of time before a decision can be made looks as if it will be longer than is reasonable in all the circumstances. Continued detention may also be merited in some cases irrespective of decision timescale, where our general detention criteria apply. We may also detain claimants after we have made and served a decision in accordance with our general detention criteria.
	Applicants with dependants may be detained for the purposes of making a quick decision on their claim, but there may be operational constraints on who can be detained from time to time. For example, the acceptance of families or pregnant females into Oakington may be halted temporarily if there is an illness circulating which might be harmful to them—chicken pox for example. The criteria for acceptance are applied equally to those entering the Oakington and Harmondsworth processes. The principal difference is that at Oakington, individuals with dependants on their asylum claims can be detained at the centre and at Harmondsworth they cannot. Separating dependants on a claim from the claimant can present operational difficulties and for that reason and the fact that it has no female or family accommodation, Harmondsworth will, in general, only accept male claimants who have no dependants on their claims. That is not to say that, at Oakington or Harmondsworth or any other location where fast-tracking is carried out, we will never detain a claimant who has dependants on their claim, even where it is not possible to detain the dependants with the claimant. There may be occasions when we believe it is necessary and right so to do.
	When deciding who to accept into fast-track processes, account is taken of any particular individual circumstances known to us which might make the claim particularly complex or unlikely to be resolved in the timescales, however flexibly applied. The existence of UK-based family ties (such as a spouse, partner or child) would not automatically exclude a claimant from the process as some issues, such as Article 8 family life ones, can be relatively easy to decide quickly given the case law and the individual's actual circumstances.
	We will continually review how our fast-track processes are operating, the criteria for acceptance into them and the indicative process timescales we aim for. This will apply equally to those we are presently operating and to any we may seek to introduce as part of our overall strategy of speeding up the asylum process and making it more effective.

Suez Canal Zone Medal

Lord Bach: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	During Defence Questions on 19 July 2004, I gave an undertaking to the House to make a Statement about progress made during the summer in the issuing of the Canal Zone Medal to Suez veterans.
	As at the week ending 10 September 2004, 41,314 applications had been received and acknowledged, and 14,761 medals dispatched. The Royal Navy is now assessing applications as they are received (5 February 2004 as at 19 July 2004), the Royal Air Force is assessing applications received on 30 December 2003 (26 November as at 19 July), and although the Army Medal Office is still assessing applications from 31 October 2003, this is due to some 4,300 applications being received during that week. This peak in applications, which occurred following my Statement to the House on 23 October, is nearly cleared and the assessment of applications received during November will begin very shortly.
	While this significant Army backlog remains, a number of measures implemented by the joint personnel administration team responsible for setting up the MoD Medal Office at RAF Innsworth are already bringing tangible benefits. A new medal laser engraving facility has recently been installed at Innsworth. This is currently being used solely to engrave Iraq medals and over 6,000 have been produced during its first four weeks of operation.
	This has allowed the engraving facility at the Army Medal Office to concentrate its efforts on the Suez Canal Zone Medal and as a result, the engraving backlog of some 1,800 medals has been cleared during the last month. Improvements to the information systems used by the Army Medal Office, the facility to work overtime and the diversion of staff to Suez Canal Zone Medal processing are helping to improve matters further. These measures, coupled with the concerted efforts of Army Medal Office staff have brought about an increase of approximately 30 per cent in the Army assessment rate during recent weeks. This increase in output has resulted in an average of some 120 more applications per week being assessed since July.
	I can also announce that with effect from l October 2004 the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency will assume full responsibility for the management of medal output, target setting and performance monitoring. This will allow many of the benefits of a single MoD Medal Office, such as common procedures based on single service best practice, to be introduced prior to its actual formation date next spring.
	Following these initial changes, I now anticipate that the backlog should be cleared by January 2006 and I hope this can continue to be improved upon. I should like to pay tribute to the staff of the single Service medal offices for their part in bringing about this improvement.

Ministry of Defence: Disposal Activity

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have today agreed that the Ministry of Defence should retain its in-house disposal expertise and that the two in-house disposal organisations, the Disposal Services Agency and Head of Specialisation (Disposal and Sales) of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO), should merge under the ownership of the DLO with effect from 1 April 2005, retaining agency status and where appropriate relocating. The relocation will form part of the Ministry of Defence's contribution to the Government's independent review of public sector rationalisation, the Lyons review. I have directed work to begin on implementing the review's recommendations, and I will make arrangements to place a copy of the review in the Library of the House.

Coal Investment Aid

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My honourable friend the Minister for Energy and E-commerce (Mike O'Brien) has made the following Statement.
	Following the acceptance of awards worth £41 million in the first of three planned CIA application periods, up to £19 million was available when bids in the second application period were invited in April 2004.
	When the deadline for applications passed on 1 June, 12 applications had been received for a total of £94.6 million. All but one were for projects at mines which are already eligible for support following awards in period 1.
	On review, the one new application was found to be incomplete. The applicant was given an opportunity to submit additional information but was unable to do so. This application therefore could not be considered for an award.
	Two further applications were for further support for projects which had already received substantial awards in period 1 and for which further awards could not be justified on value for money grounds.
	The nine remaining applications have been assessed and awarded further support worth a total of £16.42 million. Most of this is expected to be drawn down by 31 March 2006. These offers leave a balance of around £2.5 million for further awards and to meet CIA administration costs.
	A summary of the period 2 awards is given below. More details will be published shortly on the DTI energy group website.
	
		
			 Applicant/Production Unit Project Description Period 1Award Period 2CIA Sought Period 2Award TonnesSecured Mt JobsSecured/Created 
			 Eckington Colliery Partnerships, S Yorks Extension of main drift to access two new areas of reserves; acquisition of coal handling and other equipment £0.063m £0.014m £0.014m 0.3 25/6 
			 Energybuild, Aberpergwm, 
			 S Glamorgan Recovery of cross-measure drifts to access reserves through fault; upgrade of coal preparation plant & surface/admin facilities. Purchase of rail head. £1.1m £2.76m £2.42m 20.0 78/100 
			 Hatfield Colliery S Yorks Develop access to Barnsley Main seam £15.0m1 £33.28m £0.0m 100  
			 Tower Colliery, Mid Glamorgan Development of replacement panels £2.2m £3.5m £0.0m 3.5 420/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Ellington, Northumberland Development of replacement panels, purchase of new face equipment £2.1m £2.9m £0.0m 2.1 360/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Daw Mill, 
			 W Midlands Strategic development to access reserves in Warwickshire Thick seam; coal face mechanisation programme including purchase of set of powered roof supports; 3D surface seismic survey & surface boreholes £9.6m £2.72m £1.26m 32.8 543/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Harworth, 
			 S Yorks Development driveage to access 2 areas of Deep Soft reserves; purchase of new face equipment £4.6m £4.8m £1.72m 10.4 511/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Kellingley, 
			 N Yorks Strategic driveage to access the Silkstone seam to the south of current workings and Beeston seam to the east; purchase of new face equipment; upgrade of No. 2 winders £7.2m £8.0m £2.27m 19.15 630/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Maltby, S Yorks Strategic driveage to access reserves in Parkgate seam; provision of development & face machinery £2.4m £7.53m £2.71m 9.03 528/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Rossington, 
			 S Yorks Strategic driveage to access reserves in Barnsley/Dunsil seam to the east of current workings; infrastructure improvements; 3D surface seismic survey £3.2m £3.54m £1.39m 15.6 386/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Thoresby, Notts Development driveage to access reserves in Parkgate seam; purchase of new face and heading machinery and conveyor system. £2.9m £15.0m2 £2.09m 16.5 509/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Welbeck, Notts Development driveage to access reserves in Deep Soft seam; infrastructure improvements; upgrade of ROM handling plant £5.2m £10.66 £2.54m 8.0 528/0 
			  Total £40.7m £94.6m £16.42m 131.8 3738/106 
		
	
	1 Award was not taken up.
	2 Included revision of project covered by period 1 award.
	NB: No period 2 application was received from J Flack & Sons Ltd for Hay Royds Colliery, W Yorks, which received an award of £140,000 in period 1.

Rural Post Offices

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Hewitt) has made the following Statement.
	The Performance and Innovation Unit report on modernising the post office network, published in June 2000, recommended that the Government should support the rural network in the first instance to 2006. It also recommended that the Postal Services Commission, Postcomm, should advise the Government on options for the rural network after 2006. I have received that advice and have considered it very carefully.
	The Government are fully committed to supporting the Post Office's strategy for creating a viable and vibrant post office network that meets changing customer needs, providing reasonable access to services in rural communities.
	My honourable friend the then Minister of State for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services announced in the House on 2 December 2002 the Government's decision to make £450 million available to support the rural post office network through from 2003 to 2006. That three-year package was intended as a transitional measure, designed to help rural post offices through the changes in the network's business between 2003 and 2006.
	At this point in the transition rural post offices continue to face real challenges and a large part of the rural network continues to be unsustainable commercially. For many post offices the number of customers they serve is simply too small to make the business attractive or sustainable. With the prospect of customer numbers continuing to fall as people access services in different ways it is clear that there are challenges ahead and that new ways to deliver services more efficiently and effectively are needed.
	How and where people access services is changing. It is not clear that the present network best meets those changing needs, or whether because of that the current shape and scale of the rural network is a viable long-term prospect. A solution for the longer-term will need to take these changes fully into account.
	Against this background Postcomm has advised the Government to review the reasons for and nature of our support of the rural network in the longer term. They advise that the nature of that support may need to change substantially.
	Postcomm's advice recognises that such changes must be well informed and that further work will be necessary. Pilot activity by the Post Office, funded by the Government, to test new ways of ensuring access to post office services in rural areas is under way. The lessons that will emerge from these trials over the next 12 to 18 months will be crucial in informing longer-term decisions about the future shape of the rural post office network. At this stage it is simply too early to draw conclusions. The Government have therefore concluded that now is not the right time to take decisions about the long-term future of the rural network.
	It is, however, vital that we continue to support the network through this continuing difficult period. The Government are committed to ensuring reasonable access for rural communities to postal and other services. It is also clear from Postcomm's advice to us that without government funding much of the current rural network would face closure.
	I am therefore pleased to announce that the Government have decided, subject to securing any further necessary state aid clearance from the European Commission, to extend the transitional financial facility for rural post offices for two further years from 2006 until 2008.
	The Government will make available up to a maximum of £150 million a year until 2008 to enable Post Office Ltd to continue to meet the cost of maintaining the non-commercial part of the rural post office network and to pilot new ways of delivering services. Pilot activity is a key element of the current funding package—we have already allocated £25 million to fund pilots. Our intention is that this will continue to be a key element of the package going forward.
	The funding will ensure that Post Office Ltd will have money to test new ways of delivering services and will not be forced to close unprofitable rural post offices because of a lack of funding.
	Current funding is from the gilts (government money previously received as "dividends" from the company and made available back to the company for certain specific uses) and it is our intention that the further funding to April 2008 will also come from these gilts. The detailed mechanism, sums of money and timing of payments will be subject to further detailed discussion with the company, as well as being subject to state aid clearance.
	The PIU report recommended that the Post Office should be required to prevent avoidable closures of rural post offices, in the first instance to 2006. Postcomm has advised us that it is concerned that this policy can lead to post offices being saved or reopened where it is clear that customer numbers have dwindled to levels far below what is sustainable. Furthermore it has recommended that this policy should not be extended beyond April 2006.
	The Government's direction to Post Office Limited to maintain the network and do all it can to prevent avoidable closures remains in place. There is no question of it being able to initiate the closure of offices. However, in response to Postcomm's immediate concern I propose to amend the definition of what is unavoidable so that when Post Office Ltd is responding to a closure (for example when a sub-postmaster decides to retire) it takes into account circumstances where there is no prospect of a viable future for a post office because of a collapse in demand for services in a particular location. The intention will be to ensure that Post Office Ltd is focused on maintaining access to services in rural areas fully taking into account local circumstances. These changes, yet to be worked up in detail, will be published.
	I believe that we will be better placed to take a decision on the longer-term future of the rural network, including whether the current policy on avoidable closures should continue beyond April 2006, when we have feedback from the pilot activity now being undertaken by the Post Office.
	I propose therefore to ask Post Office Ltd for a full report on pilot activity and its implications for future access to post office services by the end of 2005. I will then review the policy on avoidable closures beyond April 2006 at that point.

Children and Learners: Resources 2005–06 to 2007–08

Lord Filkin: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (Mr Charles Clarke) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	In his Budget in March, my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlined continued growth in investment in education and children's services up to 2007–08, showing again the priority the Government give to children and learners.
	On 8 July, we published our five-year strategy for children and learners, setting out how the Government will use new reforms to build on substantial improvements in every stage of education and children's services since 1997—from the early years of a child's life to lifelong learning and adult skills.
	Today I am giving more detail of how the additional investment announced by my right honourable friend the Chancellor will support the reforms set out in the five-year strategy.
	Early Years and Children's Services
	Investment in early years and childcare will increase by £769 million between this year and 2007–08. The Government will announce a 10-year childcare strategy in the Pre-Budget Report when more detailed plans will be published. The broad areas to be covered will include:
	By 2008, there will be up to 2,500 children's centres;
	Bringing education and childcare together into a single integrated offer for pre-school children; and
	Developing a year round, 8am–6pm, childcare offer in many primary schools; with secondary schools offering a range of "things for young people to do".
	Investment in children's services will increase by almost £l billion by 2007–08 compared with 2004–05. We will use this investment to start taking forward key areas of reforms set out in Every Child Matters to achieve better opportunities and outcomes for children, young people and their families. We will provide support in the following areas:
	Increase the information available to parents and carers.
	Ensure that the professionals working with children have the skills and competencies to support children and their families more effectively.
	Improve support to looked-after children by enhancing the provision of mentoring to this group and improve support to foster carers in order to increase recruitment and retention.
	Improve early identification and protection of vulnerable children by supporting a common assessment framework and developing arrangements for sharing information between agencies to prevent any child slipping through the net.
	We are committed to rationalising funding streams to local authorities and the voluntary sector and reducing the number of processes. We will discuss with partners how resources can be delivered to ensure funding can be flexibly deployed at the front-line where delivery of services impact most.
	Schools 
	We will increase revenue funding for schools by some £3.5 billion overall between 2005–06 and 2007–08. That means that we will have increased revenue funding for schools by about £1,300 per pupil or 45 per cent in real terms in the years since we took office.
	Our twin aims are to make the quality of teaching even better than it is now with schools driving their own and others' improvement and to widen opportunities for pupils and teachers through enriching the curriculum. Specific examples of additional investment include:
	The budget for specialist schools will increase by over £100 million by 2008 to help all schools who meet the standard to become specialist;
	There will be an extra £30 million by 2008 for our leading schools which will be expected to work together with other schools to raise standards everywhere;
	There will be an extra £65 million a year for our primary and secondary strategies which have helped to increase pupil attainment since 1997, with resources targeted on those schools which need the greatest support;
	There will be continuing support for schools in areas served by the Excellence in Cities programme which has helped to improve exam results at a faster rate than the national average;
	We will be making additional resources to the Teacher Training Agency to improve the supply of high quality maths and science teachers and support the professional development of teachers; and
	To help schools to enrich the curriculum, the budget for sport will increase by over £30 million by 2007–08 and there will also be more resources for music, modern foreign languages and partnerships between schools and the arts.
	We look forward in the months ahead to discussions with schools and local education authorities on the best way to deliver all the resources which support schools. We will have a new ring-fenced budget for schools from 2006–07 and are committed both to delivering three-year budgets for schools and to rationalising the existing funding streams.
	Capital investment in schools will increase by £750 million to £6.3 billion by 2007–08 including ICT and PFI credits to support further improvements to all schools and allowing every secondary school to be refurbished or rebuilt to a modern standard over the next 10 to 15 years.
	14–19, Further Education (FE) and Skills 
	Total funding for FE, skills and to develop the 14–19 phase will rise by £1.5 billion by 2007–08 compared to 2004–05, taking the Government's total expenditure on post-16 (excluding higher education (HE)) to £11 billion.
	This is a substantial overall investment, building on the increases in funding in the three years up to 2005–06, which will allow the sector to meet growth in 16–19 participation and enable progress to be sustained on two key agendas: delivering success for all to continue to drive up quality, and reshaping the sector to become more demand-led as set out in the skills strategy.
	We will provide greater freedom for colleges and training providers through a new delivery structure. This will be based on autonomy and independence for good colleges and providers, backed up by a risk-based approach to lighter touch inspection but tougher sanctions on poor quality.
	This will enable colleges to engage more effectively with employers by offering the training that they need, and to increase employer and individual co-financing of training in line with the benefits they receive. This is important for the sustainability of the sector and future expansion. We want all colleges to be put on a secure financial footing to deliver the important challenges that we have set out in our five-year strategy. Under the new delivery arrangements, successful colleges will be able to grow and prosper.
	The settlement includes funding to continue the development of a transformed 14–19 phase of education, in the light of the commitments made in the department's five-year strategy. The working group on 14–19 reform, chaired by Mike Tomlinson, will issue its final report this autumn making proposals for a radical reshaping of the 14–19 phase. The Government have set out the five tests which will shape their response to the proposals, but whatever the response, the direction of travel is clear. We are therefore allocating funds to build on the work over the past few years to improve this phase of education, including workforce training and spreading good practice from the 14–19 pathfinders.
	We must support colleges in making the transition to a more demand-led approach in which greater funding comes from employers and individuals, because the training they get is designed and delivered in a way that better meets their needs. We will be looking carefully at how we can best do that. As set out in the five-year strategy, we are committed to incorporating the principles of the employer training pilots within mainstream funding for adults, as a way of promoting a more demand-led approach. We will also continue to use the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) annual business cycle to allocate public funds in a way that better matches our national skills priorities, including through the new level 2 entitlement.
	We will continue our drive to upgrade facilities in further education and training with an increase of 31 per cent in capital funding between 2004–05 and 2007–08. We will also bring local decision making and allocations for 16–19 capital provision into to alignment. Working with the department and other partners, the LSC will establish a single capital budget for new 16–19 provision across schools and FE.
	The achievements of learners depend on the quality of the teaching and learning they receive, and the way in which their teachers and trainers are themselves trained, managed and supported. We will increase by £70 million by 2007–08 our investment in initial training and continuous professional development for teachers, trainers, leaders and managers in colleges, work-based learning and adult and community learning.
	Higher Education (HE) 
	Government expenditure on higher education will increase by around £2 billion between 2004–05 and 2007–08, taking total investment to almost £9.5 billion. This builds on the significant increases from 2002 Spending Review, and it confirms our commitment to stand by HE in future spending reviews, made in the HE White Paper and repeated during the discussions on the HE Bill.
	We will increase the HEFCE grant to allow for further increases in student numbers while maintaining the level of student funding per head in real terms.
	HE institutions will also benefit from increases in research funding: DfES recurrent funding for research will increase from £1.236 billion in 2005–06 to over £1.4 billion in 2007–08—around 9 per cent in real terms. Our contribution to total UK science spending, together with the contribution from the Office of Science and Technology, will exceed £5 billion by 2007–08.
	On top of all this, HE institutions will receive in full the extra income they generate from charging variable fees—in steady state (ie by 2010) this will be around £1.2 billion extra.
	HE institutions will start to receive this extra income in the academic year 2006–07. We expect the first tranche to be paid in two instalments—one half in early 2007, and the other before the end of the academic year.
	Full-time students will benefit from an enhanced student support package:
	An HE grant of up to £2,700 for the poorest new students;
	Enhanced bursaries, paid from HEIs' new fee income stream;
	Fee loans from 2006, for existing and new students;
	A maintenance loan increased to the level of average student expenditure on essential items, for existing and new students;
	Affordable repayments for student loans—9 per cent of salary above £ 15,000, for all students after April 2005. So students will make a contribution towards the cost of their higher education, but only when they can afford to do so;
	And for new students, a loan write-off after 25 years—that will particularly help those graduates who choose low-paid work.
	Part-time students will also benefit from an enhanced package from this autumn. Grants for fees will replace loans and a new statutory fee grant will replace the old discretionary scheme. The poorest students will get £825 in grants for fees and course costs.
	Overall, this spending review will help to put excellence in HE on a sustainable footing and will secure world class standards through:
	increased teaching funding;
	increased research funding;
	increased fee income; and
	better support for students.
	This will enable us to make a significant impact on the funding gap we know exists, and to continue expansion on a sensible, properly funded basis.
	Value for money and efficiency 
	The total investment in education and training is much larger than the figures presented here. Families have always invested and will continue to invest in their children's care and development. Employers invest in the training and development of their workforce. Support for education—in cash and in kind—is growing. We expect co-funding to grow over the spending review period, as individuals and employers become readier to invest in better education and training that meets their needs.
	We must ensure that we get maximum value from every pound of additional investment for children and learners. Enabling people across the children, education and skills system to get better value for money from our investment in public services is our aim in the efficiency review. We have identified ways to achieve gains in value for money of £4.3 billion over the spending review period. For example, we will:
	reduce the number of Civil Service posts in the DfES and Ofsted by 1,960;
	enable front-line professionals in schools, colleges and higher education institutions to use their time more productively, enabling institutions to achieve more with their resources; for example through workforce reform, investment in ICT and reducing administrative burdens;
	improve procurement of goods, services and new school building, using a new procurement centre of excellence to strengthen procurement practice across the education and children's services sectors;
	streamline the delivery system for each sector through improvements in policy, funding and regulation, such as the lighter touch process for Ofsted inspection, streamlined data collection and reduced reporting and monitoring requirements introduced in the new relationship with schools.
	In conclusion, this Statement sets out how we will use the additional resources for children and learners over the next three years to deliver the ambitious programme set out in the five-year strategy. I will be vigilant in ensuring that they are used efficiently and effectively. If resources are not being used to best effect, I will not hesitate to ensure they are switched to where they are most needed, and I will inform Parliament of any significant movements.

Palliative Care

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
	The Government's response to the Health Committee's fourth report of Session 2003–04 on palliative care, Cm 6327, has been published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.

NHS Continuing Care

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Community (Dr Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
	I am reporting on progress with investigations into cases where individuals may have been inappropriately denied fully funded National Health Service care since 1996. These cases relate only to matters of past financial injustice and all claimants had access to care services and NHS treatment.
	The majority of strategic health authorities (SHAs) have made considerable progress since December in the process of remedying any consequent financial injustice to patients (or the estates of such patients) who had wrongly been made to pay for the cost of their continuing care. In December, just over 22 per cent of cases received had been completed. Between December and March a substantial number of additional cases had been reported and by the end of March 57 per cent of cases had been completed. A percentage completion rate, of pre-31 March cases, of more than 85 per cent in July reflects the amount of work undertaken by all NHS and local authority personnel involved.
	The NHS has stressed the importance of all cases being investigated thoroughly and accurately and as such is committed to reviewing each application on its own merits. The process involved in undertaking an in depth review involves contact with many health and social care organisations and bodies, and as such there have been considerable delays in obtaining all the relevant records and patient data. In some cases data and information from aged cases have been lost and, wherever possible, they must be gathered from alternative sources.
	Delays should not automatically be attributed to the SHAs involved in particular cases. Occasionally the claimant themself is responsible for the delay. Many SHAs are now exceeding 95 per cent completion. In some cases, however, progress has been unsatisfactory, and the department will take up the matter directly with those SHAs.
	In total, almost 20 per cent of cases have been granted recompense. As stated previously, the NHS expects to pay a total of £180 million when all the cases received by the end of March 2004 have been completed.
	Approximately 1,600 cases remain outstanding, which is unacceptable. However, I am assured that all cases relating to living people have been prioritised, and that new applications for NHS continuing care are being dealt with in a timely fashion. My department will be liaising with all SHAs to ensure appropriate procedures are now in place and that outstanding cases are resolved as quickly as possible.
	The proportion of completed cases by SHA is shown in the table.
	Fiqures for progress with restitution cases in continuing care
	
		Figures for progress with restitution cases in continuing care
		
			  At Dec 03 At Dec 03 At March 04 At March 04 At July 04 At July 04 
			 Strategic health authority (SHA) name Number ofcases Percentagecompleted Number ofcases Percentagecompleted Percentagecompleted* Caseseligible forpayment** 
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA 512 2.3 651 43.2 91.8 72 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA 216 13.0 212 48.1 59.5 38 
			 Essex SHA 6 0.0 172 84.9 97.7 15 
			 North West London SHA 146 28.8 372 48.7 98.0 108 
			 North Central London SHA 121 5.0 125 51.2 74.8 14 
			 North East London SHA 148 3.4 180 93.9 98.8 19 
			 South East London SHA 30 0.0 273 67.0 91.4 165 
			 South West London SHA 190 6.8 215 90.2 96.1 69 
			 Northumberland, Tyne & Wear SHA 275 2.9 298 42.3 73.7 113 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley SHA 226 7.5 226 21.3 96.0 79 
			 North & East Yorkshire & North Lincs SHA 286 44.4 359 74.1 96.3 52 
			 West Yorkshire SHA 156 28.9 349 37.3 79.7 59 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire SHA 250 14.4 340 45.3 88.2 41 
			 Greater Manchester SHA 292 22.3 342 29.8 74.1 63 
			 Cheshire & Merseyside SHA 400 0.0 1,196 64.7 97.7 130 
			 Thames Valley SHA 299 52.2 383 47.3 63.9 44 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA 387 59.2 507 76.1 97.7 40 
			 Kent and Medway SHA 277 49.1 230 80.9 94.8 36 
			 Surrey and Sussex SHA 964 13.7 875 1.7 37.7 69 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA 698 45.4 961 63.7 100.0 131 
			 South West Peninsula SHA 458 10.9 553 78.3 95.8 144 
			 Dorset and Somerset SHA 425 27.8 915 49.0 95.4 49 
			 South Yorkshire SHA 138 38.4 241 67.6 96.9 43 
			 Trent SHA 400 0.0 315 74.9 86.2 23 
			 Leics, Northants and Rutland SHA 38 21.1 224 90.2 89.6 30 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA 406 39.7 431 95.6 99.1 40 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country SHA 157 14.7 286 74.5 85.7 77 
			 West Midlands South SHA 193 21.2 424 55.9 98.9 33 
			 Total 8,094 22.6 11,655 57.0 86.1 1,796 
		
	
	Note:* The percentage of cases completed at July refers only to cases received up to and including 31 March 2004.
	** The cases eligible for payment at July refers to all cases investigated up to and including 31 July 2004.